Osiris
The lord of the dead and resurrection; murdered by his brother Set, restored by Isis, and father of Horus; he judges the dead in the afterlife.
Who they are
- Lord of the dead and the afterlife [S1]S1 · Pyramid Textsc. 2400–2300 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Book of the Dead (e.g., Papyrus of Ani)c. 1250 BCEtextOpen source ↗.
- Murdered by Set, restored by Isis [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- Father of Horus [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- Judges the dead in the 'Weighing of the Heart' [S2]S2 · Book of the Dead (e.g., Papyrus of Ani)c. 1250 BCEtextOpen source ↗.
- The prototype of mummification [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- Associated with the Nile flood and fertility [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- The 'Byblos' episode (the chest washing up in Phoenicia) is a later addition to the myth [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
- Osiris's role as 'king of the dead' developed over time; in the earliest Pyramid Texts he is one of the blessed dead, not yet the lord of all the dead [S1]S1 · Pyramid Textsc. 2400–2300 BCEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Connections
Family & kinship
Partners
Conflict & enmity
Alliances & rule
Artifacts
Their corner of the divine world
- parentage
- marriage ♥
far = primordials · medium = all · close = detail — scroll/pan, click a deity to focus
3 stories
The Murder of Osiris
Set, jealous of his brother Osiris (the rightful king), lured him to a banquet. Set brought a coffin that he had measured to Osiris's exact size; when Osiris lay down in it, Set seized him, wrapped him in the coffin, sealed it with lead, and threw it into the Nile. The chest washed down-river and out to sea, washing up in Byblos, where a tamarisk tree grew around it [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Isis Restores Osiris
Isis (with the help of Nephthys) searched for the scattered pieces of Osiris's body. She found all the pieces except the genitals (which had been eaten by a fish in the Nile). She reassembled the body, used her magic to restore Osiris to life, and through their union conceived Horus [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. Anubis mummified the body, making Osiris the first mummy [S3]S3 · Plutarch, On Isis and Osirisc. 79 CEtextOpen source ↗[S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
The Contendings of Horus and Set
Horus (the son of Osiris) and Set (the murderer) fight for the throne of Egypt. The 'Contendings' is a long, episodic struggle in which the two cousins fight, each claiming the throne, and the Ennead (the nine gods) judges between them. Horus ultimately wins, and becomes the king of the unified Egypt [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Objects they wielded, forged, or were bound to
INTERPRETIVE CLASSIFICATION · FULL PROFILE IN THE DIVINE VAULT
Depictions
